Last May, when on the occasion of his daughter’s birthday, Adam Greenwood reported the tragic passing of his daughter Betsey in March over at Times and Seasons, my mind turned to a poem of mourning I had read in which the unknown author, a contemporary of Chaucer but writing in the language and grammar of the West Midlands, relates a vision of his infant daughter who had passed away. I hesitated in posting this for the Greenwoods at that time and will not miss the chance this time. Now, on the occasion of moving away from the town where Betsey last accompanied them in mortality, A. Greenwood has posted again about his daughter, and his hope that her memory will not diminish as grief passes. How fitting that Betsey’s name is also Pearl, since this poem from circa 1400, translated from the Middle English in 1953 by J.R.R. Tolkien, is about the Pearl that the author has lost and furtively seeks again. Here then is a Pearl (or excerpts thereof) for A. Greenwood. May it lift your spirits at this time while turning your mind to your own Pearl: Read the rest of this entry »

This is a picture of John’s and my kids at a recent wedding reception. They are all ours except the two boys in tuxes, who belong to my sister. Mine are the girl sitting on top with the white bow, the boy sitting next to her, and the girl with the extremely blonde hair on the middle stair near the right (as you look at it) edge of the picture. John’s are the two brunettes not listed as mine.

Above is a picture of hugging cousins. John’s Marianne is on the left (as you look at the picture) with the black bow and my Leah is on the right with the white bow.

This is me and my sweetheart, Andrea. We were celebrating our eighth wedding anniversary in San Antonio, Texas! Hooray for love!

I was looking (unsuccessfully) for Ben Spackman’s contact details in the Center for Language Studies at BYU and stumbled across a picture of . . . myself on a BYU webpage. The internet is an amazing place . . . it makes me wonder what other pictures of me are on the web that I don’t know about. There might even be pictures of SeptimusH out there that he does not know about, despite his best efforts to withhold his appearance from us all. . . .

I might also note, belatedly, that John celebrated his 29th Birthday last week on August 3. He got to travel to Germany that day- lucky, lucky. Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, John! Hoch sollst du leben! And Happy Birthday too!

[UPDATE: The lecture in which John will be participating is actually on Wednesday, August 17 at 9:50 – 10:45]

This is a notice for those of you who might attend BYU Education Week this August 15-19, 2005. If you want to be dazzled by the quick wit of John F., he will be speaking under the general theme of Latter-day Saints and Mozart’s Magic Flute, specifically on the theme of “Understanding Mozart’s The Magic Flute“, on Thursday, August 18 at 9:50 – 10:45 am in W-112 Benson Building.

I can’t resist posting this as I sit in an Internet-Cafe in the Wahlenstraße 6 two streets over from the magnificent Regensburg Cathedral. Being in Regensburg can make one wish he or she were a Catholic. The city is so beautiful and it seems like being Catholic while visiting here could, in a certain sense, give one such a feeling of belonging and community. It is interesting to see so many monks, priests, and nuns about on the streets mixed among so many regular residents and tourists.

If I ever get the chance, I’d like to live in one of the buildings from the Middle Ages in the Kepplerstraße.

I’ll be in Germany until Aug. 10, so the return comments will still be sparse until then. But thanks to all who have left comments this week.